Giving Children and Young People the Best Start in Life

Tuesday 5th February, 2013

Schools’ safeguarding briefing for new designated child protection

co ordinators

The aims of this briefing are to:-

• Understand your role and responsibilities • raise awareness of key legislation and guidance • Increase your understanding of the referral

process and what makes a good referral • Help you to recognise and overcome barriers to

disclosure • Update you on the allegations and complaints

procedures • Equip you to support staff effectively

What do you think?

• Safeguarding?

• Child protection?

SafeguardingSafeguarding

Child Protection

Staff Conduct

Curriculum

Managing Allegations Against Staff

Safe Recruitment and Selection

Health and Safety

Behaviour Management

Attendance

Anti Bullying Policies

Whistle blowing Safe Built Environment

RestraintIntimate Care

Where does child protection sit?

child in need of protection

child in need

healthy supportive

safe environment

seriously abusive

environment

Child Protection

Assessment Framework

. SAFEGUARDING .

Definition of Safeguarding

Safeguarding is: • protecting children from maltreatment;• preventing impairment of children’s health or

development;• ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances

consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and undertaking that role so as to enable those children

to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.

Working Together 2010

But ultimately …..

• To support you to help keep children safer

Areas of responsibility

• Referrals

• Training

• Raising awareness

Referrals

• Ensuring that information about concerns/disclosures is passed to you as soon as possible

• Information about concerns/disclosures is recorded appropriately (see handouts)

• Making decisions about whether to make a referral to social care

• Ensuring actions and outcomes are recorded and feedback given to staff involved

• Copies to EYSA / SSA

Training• Ensure DCPC and deputies refresh training

every 2 years• All staff every 3 years• Induction safeguarding training for new staff • Safer recruitment – Statutory Head and at least

one Governor, manager of setting• Allegations – Good practice for Head and Chair

or manager, owner, or chair of committee of a setting

• CPCs – attendance and provision of report

Training

Swindon LSCB provide multi-agency child protection training

• Online calendar• Online booking form• Annual conference

• Requirements

Raising Awareness

• Policy – how do we ensure all staff are kept up to date

• Easily accessible

• Copies of transfer files

School/Settings Safeguarding audit

• School governing bodies/EY settings are required to carry out an annual review of their school’s/setting’s safeguarding practice and to provide information to the LA about how the duties set out in the DfE guidance (‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’) have been discharged.

Safeguarding Staff

• Code of Conduct

• Whistleblowing policy

• Positive Handling

• Allegations against members of staff

Code of conduct

• All staff should have read the school’s /setting’s code and have signed to say they have read it, understood it and agree to the statements it contains.

• Whistleblowing policy – reporting concerns

How are concerns about staff recorded?

Positive Handling and the Use of Reasonable force

•School/setting should have their own policy •Restraint should be used only rarely•All staff and volunteers working in the school/setting should be made aware of protocols•All incidents of the use of force by staff should be formally recorded•Complaints of inappropriate handling should be treated under child protection procedures•Uplands School provides Team Teach training on behalf of the LA

DfE statutory guidanceUpdated Sept 2012

• Quick resolution should be a clear priority

• Suspension should not be the default option

• Allegations found to be malicious should be removed from personnel records

• Unsubstantiated or unfounded should not be referred to in employer references

Swindon guidelines• Head teacher/manager would take the lead on this, unless

they are subject of allegation, then Chair of Governors/owner/Chair of Committee would take on the responsibility.

• Settings-LADO to be first point of contact, then EYSA• Schools’ Safeguarding Adviser to be first point of

contact • Initial information will be recorded (see handout)• Adviser to confirm actions with LADO and feedback to school

– No further action by LADO (School to consider how the matter should be dealt with under employers’ procedures eg complaints / disciplinary) *

– Allegations management/ strategy meeting/discussion

Safer recruitment

• Deter

• Reject

• Prevent

• Detect

Scaling back

• Bichard Report – 2004

• Drawing the line – 2009

• June 2010 – Theresa May ordered a full review

Not everything is changing…..• If your organisation works with children / young people

and a member of staff is dismissed because they harmed a child, or you would have done so had they not left, you must refer this information to the DBS (formerly ISA).

• An organisation which knowingly employs a barred individual to work with children in regulated activity will be breaking the law.

• A person will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer or try to work or volunteer and are barred from working with children and young people in regulated activity.

Major changes at a glance…

• New definition of regulated activity

• Repeal of controlled activity

• Repeal of registration

• Repeal of additional information

• Minimum age (16) at which someone can apply for CRB check

• More rigorous relevancy test prior to release of information by the police

Regulated activity

• Unsupervised activities: teach, train, instruct, care for or supervise children or provide advice / guidance on well-being or drive a vehicle only for children

• Work for a limited range of establishments with opportunity for contact. (Not work by supervised volunteers)

• Done regularly

Regulated activity cont’d

• Relevant personal care or health care by or supervised by a professional

• Registered child minders and foster carers

Schools’/ EY Safeguarding Adviser

• Termly briefings (2 dates to choose from)

• Termly safeguarding newsletter (x6)

• Advice and support via telephone / e mail

• Allegations

• Feeling safe survey(schools only)

• Monitoring

Monitoring of child protection

• School/setting safeguarding audit outcomes

• School/setting safeguarding audit visit (3 yearly cycle)

• Attendance at CPCs and provision of reports

• Leads meetings

• Referral forms

Further Information

• South West Child Protection Procedures accessed at www.online-procedures.co.uk/swcpp/

• LSCB web site at www.swindonlscb.org.uk

Websites• www.earlyyearschildcare.org